Tax Increase Extensions on Next Week's Ballot

Hercules residents will vote next week on two ballot measures -- tax increase extensions that local leaders believe will allow the city to “come up for breath” from massive fiscal challenges.

Measure B and Measure C, which will be on the Nov. 3 ballot for Hercules voters, would extend already existing tax increases.

They are the only measures in Contra Costa County for the election and both require a simple majority for approval.

If approved, Measure B authorizes the city to continue a half-cent sales tax increase indefinitely. The increase was approved by voters in June 2012, under the name Measure O, and was set to expire in October 2016.

Measure C authorizes the city to continue a five-year 2 percent addition to the city’s utility user tax rate, which built on a 6 percent increase passed in 2004. If approved, the measure would extend the 2 percent increase, which was approved in 2013, to the 6 percent increase, which expires in 2025.

Funds from these taxes are slated for general purpose use, allowing it to be used for any governmental services in Hercules.

The city highlights the potential for it to be applied to police, street maintenance and business attraction efforts. No official opposition has been filed for either measure, according to the city.

Both have a number of supporters signed on, including Earnest Taylor, president of the Hercules Police Officers Association. Taylor said that he’s found anecdotally that an extension on already in-place taxes has been well-received around Hercules.

City officials said community support for the increases helped Hercules avoid insolvency as it faced a $9 million deficit.

The city’s fiscal emergency over the past few years has led to a 40 percent reduction in city staff and the introduction of furlough days, making it difficult to maintain vital services, Taylor said. From his perspective, Taylor said he has seen police staffing in the city shrink and mandatory overtime has become status quo.

“We’ve had to do more with less,” he said. “We’ve been working a lot of hours to maintain services and doing a great job at that.”

If the measures don’t pass, he said the city will lose around $2 million that the taxes bring in each year and might have to again look at cuts in the future. But Taylor said he’s optimistic that won’t happen “just as we’re finally starting to come up for breath from shortfalls.”

--Bay City News News; Image via Shutterstock